The Redheaded Stepchild of Hip-Hop Blogging?

Why do I feel like the redheaded stepchild of hip-hop blogging? In the hip-hop world you have to take one side or the other. You have to be the "grown and sexy" blog, the New York hip-hop blog, the dirty south blog, the thugged out blog, or the backpacker blog to gain any type of substantial following.

I've chosen not to take a side.

But I know that most of y'all don'tfit into a category in real life, so why in the hell do we have to be put in boxes to appease Madison Avenue? That goes especially for my hip-hop and African American readers. Why in the hell do we have to define what type of "hip-hop" that we aspire to. Why can'tthugs and backpackers hang together?

In a perfect world, I wouldn'thave to worry about labels. But ask any Katrina victim...the world ain'tperfect. In the end, I have to pick a market for this site. It just makes it easier in the longrun. I've been unwilling to embrace the "alternative urban" label for a while, mainly out of respect for our non-urban brothers and sisters who live out in the country, but unfortunately, that's the only way to describe what we're trying to do here.

Anyway, I'm about to launch a site redesign/overhaul in the next few weeks and I want your opinions on what works, what doesnt work, and what you want to see. (Don'thold yer breaths on the redesign though. I'm doing everything in CSS so it might take a while.) The first thing I'm working on is an "add to del.icio.us" link (my new favorite website) that should happen soon. I'm also thinking about adding non-music articles and reviews of non hip-hop acts (although I'm sure that homegirl would call me a sellout again.)

Let me know what you think.